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The ninth season of in-game events for "Fortnite" arrives May 9, and while a full launch trailer is expected at the time, this initial teaser image offers a hint of what's to come.

Its color scheme recalls the weapons vault seen during a May 4 live in-game event while the costume worn by a "Fortnite" character implies a retro-futuristic Samurai theme. Away from the teaser image, Season 9 arrives at a time when the "Fortnite" World Cup qualification stages are already underway -- weekend bouts run up until June 16.

However, should the season last the usual 10-week duration, it would conclude on July 18, two weeks before the July 26-28 Finals. That leaves developer Epic Games some extra wiggle room in the initial weeks of Season 10, should it want to host the Finals within the main game's architecture. For example, Epic may choose to challenge highly skilled players with new elements, while bringing back some more classic features to test their all-round ability.

One such feature could even be the iconic and strategically important location of Tilted Towers, finally flattened just this past weekend after having been established in early 2018. It wasn't the only location impacted by an in-game volcanic eruption but was by far the most symbolic, after a year of speculation surrounded its future. The same event also brought back a piece of legacy equipment, the Drum Gun, when players were transported to an interdimensional vault and removed it before any of the five other retired weapons were reclaimed.

In that instance, however, Epic clarified that the Drum Gun wouldn't be included in the weekend's qualifiers. Whether the Drum Gun remains in place for Season 9 remains to be seen, while Season 8's oversized hamster ball vehicle, the Baller, is expected to be replaced with another mode of transportation.